Amazon.com: Where are you from? How--if at all--has your sense of place colored your writing?

M.C.: I'm from Georgia and I think it's impossible to live in the South and not be affected by it all the way around. The South gets in your heart. In Stephen's Moon, a Southern Baptist preacher's part in my childhood comes humorously into play and Southern funerals as seen through my eyes as a child are described in a chapter called Flo, Bessie, Gertrude and Old Rufus. In other books, not released yet, Savannah, Roswell and Atlanta are always home to my characters and when not in the South, my characters are homesick, as I know I would be.

Amazon.com: When and why did you begin writing? When did you first consider yourself a writer?

M.C.: I have been writing as long as I can remember. I've always had thoughts in my head that demanded to be acknowledged, so I had no choice - I wrote them down. In grammar school, I wrote great adventure stories that I shared with my cousin and my sisters. Strangely enough, I did not first consider myself a writer when Stephen's Moon was released. I considered myself a writer way back in grammar school when my sisters and my cousin would laugh at what I wrote or cry if it was sad. I knew they were feeling what I was feeling when I wrote it and that was when I considered myself a writer. I was very aware that the rest of the world may never know that I was a writer, but for what it was worth, I knew.

Amazon.com: Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way? What books have most influenced your life?

M.C.: Margaret Mitchell and Gone With the Wind-my answer to both questions. Her storytelling mixed with facts of the Civil War and romance intermingled - what more could anyone want? I read the book and saw the movie in eighth grade. I wanted to write like Margaret Mitchell and look like Viven Leigh. Neither of these things have happened to date.

Amazon.com: What music, if any, most inspires you to write? What do you like to listen to while writing?

M.C.: Elton John and Celene Dion inspire me to write. As a matter of fact, their songs inspire me to live. Elton's Recover Your Soul and Celene's My Heart Will Go On were songs that helped me so much after I lost Stephen. Of course, as a writer, I find it a little frustrating that songwriters can tell a story in a three minute song. It takes me hundreds of pages, usually with my editor screaming at me. Stephen's Moon is 112 pages - my editor was impressed. But - three minutes and such great stories! As for listening to music while I write, I can't do it. As much as I love music, there's no way I can listen to anything while writing.

Amazon.com: What are you reading now? What CD is currently in your stereo?

M.C.: I'm reading Up Island by Anne Rivers Siddons. She's one of my favorites. She makes me laugh and she touches on subjects that strike familiar chords with me. Low Country, another of her books, deals with the loss of the main character's daughter. Someone in the book tells the mother, "Think of things you would die for and live for them." I took that advice to heart. Anne is an Atlanta author,although I didn't know that when I started reading her books.I just knew her settings were almost always in the South. Santana's Supernatural is the CD in my player right now. Smooth with Rob Thomas is my favorite song on the CD.

Amazon.com: What are you working on?

M.C.: A children's book called Ora's Farm. Ora is a real man - he lives in Roswell, Georgia. He's a farmer and a good soul. There are three children in this book, each one dealing with a life changing dilemma. One is losing her mother to cancer, another is dealing with his parents' divorce, another with a new stepdad. Ora helps them through with simple moral advice that they live by. The book follows them through college, Ora's words still in their hearts. I thought Ora should be recognized because he really has done things like this for generations. I also feel that the problems of children should be recognized. The book is due out later this year.

Amazon.com: Any final thoughts that you wish to share?

M.C.: As I so often say, I do not have a degree in bereavement, psychology or anything else. There are no initials behind my name. I just know the material. I wish I didn't. But since I do and I can't change that, I hope Stephen's Moon can be helpful to others who are suffering loss.

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